I'd understand if he dropped on other things as well, but personally, think they took the discipline too far. I also agree with the above person in regards to the stress, and the way the managers deal with a possible gap at my store just seems crazy. A gap customer gets treated a lot better than a regular one, and think there's something not right there - it's just too much sucking up.

Maybe it was an overreaction but I bet now no one will forget their thank yous during gap time!

Gaps get treated better than other customers in every store because they are so important.

(Original post by fwed1)
Maybe it was an overreaction but I bet now no one will forget their thank yous during gap time!

Gaps get treated better than other customers in every store because they are so important.

And that is why I think the whole concept of gap is a whole lot of bull. Why should customers only be treated really well because what they say goes towards the restaurant performance? It's really stupid how in our store for four hours a day (and not even every day of the month) everything has to be perfect yet no one cares as much any other time of the day. I really think that it should be changed to any time of the day and any day, and they should be allowed to order a lot more than they can just now too, like promotional burgers and stuff. I mean, it obviously still needs to be kinda obvious to people for appeals purposes and stuff, but I just think the whole concept of it is stupid and only really helps restaurants performance during certain parts of the day.

Edit: I should probably point out I only said four hours earlier because we don't get a gap between 5-7 at our store It'd obviously be 6 hours for most stores.

(Original post by Ronda)
And that is why I think the whole concept of gap is a whole lot of bull. Why should customers only be treated really well because what they say goes towards the restaurant performance? It's really stupid how in our store for four hours a day (and not even every day of the month) everything has to be perfect yet no one cares as much any other time of the day. I really think that it should be changed to any time of the day and any day, and they should be allowed to order a lot more than they can just now too, like promotional burgers and stuff. I mean, it obviously still needs to be kinda obvious to people for appeals purposes and stuff, but I just think the whole concept of it is stupid and only really helps restaurants performance during certain parts of the day.

Edit: I should probably point out I only said four hours earlier because we don't get a gap between 5-7 at our store It'd obviously be 6 hours for most stores.

They come between those times because that is when we are most busy and they are testing how well we deal with that. All customers should be treated like gaps but ultimately how practical is that? All customers who order Gap meals and act like a gap will receive top service.

Gaps also tend to be the perfect customer. They know what meal they want, they have the right money and they don't faff around in the queue/infront of the counter so they will get faster service than a lot of people we serve.

And finally if you were presented with 2 customers, 1 will be happy just to get their food and 1 will be scrutinizing you, they will then give this information to head officce who will decide based on their experience whether the staff deserve more money and how highly they rate the store, which one would you give preferential treatment to?

They should also not be allowed to order promo food as it takes longer to prepare, less are made ready for gap times and we often run out days before the end of the promotion and sometimes for a few days during.

I hate people who want their table to be squeaky clean and when they leave they don't clean after themselves... grrrr. And don't get me started on the toilets - if people are this messy at home I feel really bad for them..
And I found it really funny when loud and obnoxious teenagers who think they're all that eat happy meal. No idea why, but it's too funny haha

Had a very amusing monday shift when there was a loud lady in the queue for the toilet and she said she's gonna piss in the sink if people don't do it faster lol.

Had my first shift yesterday, wasn't bad. Colleagues were really helpful and friendly, and so were the managers- apart from one. I just hope that I will be ready soon to work at the till by myself, and hopefully they will keep me on.

Apart from the stars taken off (only service should be) the rest is not too bad.

GAPbusters play a large part in McDonalds, it judges your store, the manager and decides whether staff get bonuses. To muck up on something as basic as saying thank you is inexcusable, especaially with 4 stars on the badge (if that's how he deals with a gap how does he deal with regular customers?). At my store we pride ourselves on achieving 0% CSO every gap (with very few exceptions). When someone messes that up they get in deep ****, not as bad as you have described though.

That kind of reaction to what is really a minor slip up is ridiculous. Things like having stars removed and not being allowed to go to nights out etc should only ever be used after multiple offenses, not failing one part of one gap.

Appropriate action to take would have been a chat in the office, a bit of a telling off etc How long have you worked for McDonalds out of interest?

Also, every customer you serve should be treated as you would treat a gap, that's the whole point of the scheme. The requirements for serving a gapbuster are really quite basic - friendly greetings and farewells, quick service, a clean environment and quality food are the most basic things that every customer should receive, and so if you're not treating all your customers in the same way you would treat a potential gap, you're doing something wrong.

(Original post by moregano)
That kind of reaction to what is really a minor slip up is ridiculous. Things like having stars removed and not being allowed to go to nights out etc should only ever be used after multiple offenses, not failing one part of one gap.

Appropriate action to take would have been a chat in the office, a bit of a telling off etc How long have you worked for McDonalds out of interest?

Also, every customer you serve should be treated as you would treat a gap, that's the whole point of the scheme. The requirements for serving a gapbuster are really quite basic - friendly greetings and farewells, quick service, a clean environment and quality food are the most basic things that every customer should receive, and so if you're not treating all your customers in the same way you would treat a potential gap, you're doing something wrong.

It was an overreaction yes but it makes that person an example, I can guarentee that people won't slip up next time. Nights out are paid for by the store, as they may have just cost the store money then not allowing them on nights out is a valid punishment.

I have worked at McDonalds for 2 years.

All customers are treated with courtesy and respect and all those requirements are fulfilled, however in my store we go above and beyond for potential gaps. Their food will be prioritised, they will recieve the freshest fries and a customer care assistant may chat/check up on the person.

It would not be possible to do this for every person, their chicken legend might be 30 seconds or even a minute slower than that of a gapbusters but they will still recieve it in a respectable time frame, their chips may not be the freshest but they will still be hot and they may still be checked up on by customer care assistants.

Your statement on how simple a gapbuster order is demonstrates that when a gap is failed how much it shows is wrong with the store. If one of your staff cannot say thank you after an order they really need to be trained better or maybe they have the wrong attitude.

As I’ve said before I’m having difficulties working in my particular store and it seems as more time passes the more things I discover wrong. When I originally applied, I didn’t expect the job to be glamourous, but I expected to be treated fairly perhaps that was asking for too much. Our store is very much focussed on saving as much money as possible and I’m convinced they’re breaking a few laws to do with employment. They’re also being very secretive about GAPbusters and it’s not mentioned at all, when they expect one is in the store they push me to one side and the manager will prepare the food himself. The staff are not informed and there are no bonuses. We don’t receive any money from completing the apprenticeships, we’re not allowed to take the boxes the chips come in when going on breaks.

I feel as if there is a cycle of bullying going on with the shift managers being dressed down in full view of other employees and crew trainers/members receiving the same treatment from the shift managers. I get the sense that some of the managers are threatened by me because I don’t bow down to pressure like the other crew members do. Maybe it’s the difference in education and intelligence? One manager is particular is constantly criticizing me, deliberately withholding information, setting me up to fail and when I don’t he looks visibly annoyed.

Overall I haven’t enjoyed my experience at McDonald’s, the people can be nice although that is over-shadowed by the poor management.

(Original post by fwed1)
All customers are treated with courtesy and respect and all those requirements are fulfilled, however in my store we go above and beyond for potential gaps. Their food will be prioritised, they will recieve the freshest fries and a customer care assistant may chat/check up on the person.

With all due respect, you should be "going above and beyond" for every customer. That is what McDonald's entire customer care ethos is all about, and the whole point of the gapbuster scheme is to ensure that this is being carried out in the most basic way. Of course I'm aware that potential gapbusters are prioritised etc, but that's not really what the scheme is about, and so having a perfect record for gap doesn't necessarily mean a store is excellent for customer service in general (believe me I know ).

(Original post by BrokenJohn)
As I’ve said before I’m having difficulties working in my particular store and it seems as more time passes the more things I discover wrong. When I originally applied, I didn’t expect the job to be glamourous, but I expected to be treated fairly perhaps that was asking for too much. Our store is very much focussed on saving as much money as possible and I’m convinced they’re breaking a few laws to do with employment. They’re also being very secretive about GAPbusters and it’s not mentioned at all, when they expect one is in the store they push me to one side and the manager will prepare the food himself. The staff are not informed and there are no bonuses. We don’t receive any money from completing the apprenticeships, we’re not allowed to take the boxes the chips come in when going on breaks.

I feel as if there is a cycle of bullying going on with the shift managers being dressed down in full view of other employees and crew trainers/members receiving the same treatment from the shift managers. I get the sense that some of the managers are threatened by me because I don’t bow down to pressure like the other crew members do. Maybe it’s the difference in education and intelligence? One manager is particular is constantly criticizing me, deliberately withholding information, setting me up to fail and when I don’t he looks visibly annoyed.

Overall I haven’t enjoyed my experience at McDonald’s, the people can be nice although that is over-shadowed by the poor management.

Hi,

I'd suggest that you call the company HR helpline on 0844 736 3610 or email humanresources@uk.mcd.com and let them know what's going on. You could also try contacting your ops consultant or franchisee. There are company policies protecting employees who complain about being treated badly etc, so don't worry about any consequences

(Original post by oodovis)
Even though it's online only, they do sometimes accept ppl directly with a CV

We're not supposed to employ anybody who hasn't been through the online process so it's very rare that this happens anywhere nowadays, whenever someone asks if they can hand in a CV we direct them to the online application form.

Even if there are no vacancies at your local store you can submit an "open application" which will be available for managers in the area to see when a vacancy comes up.

(Original post by moregano)
With all due respect, you should be "going above and beyond" for every customer. That is what McDonald's entire customer care ethos is all about, and the whole point of the gapbuster scheme is to ensure that this is being carried out in the most basic way. Of course I'm aware that potential gapbusters are prioritised etc, but that's not really what the scheme is about, and so having a perfect record for gap doesn't necessarily mean a store is excellent for customer service in general (believe me I know ).

It's hard to explain :P going above and beyond for every customer makes it standard anyway so then it would just be the norm :P

As you said GAPs are prioritised, I guess that is what I meant. I try and improve people's visit (if they are nice to me).

Additionally managers don't know how you deal with most customers, the gap report can give them an idea of that. It demonstrates failing within that persons job and this maybe the first time it was highlighted and they are trying to make sure it doesn't happen again.

(Original post by fwed1)
It's hard to explain :P going above and beyond for every customer makes it standard anyway so then it would just be the norm :P

As you said GAPs are prioritised, I guess that is what I meant. I try and improve people's visit (if they are nice to me).

Additionally managers don't know how you deal with most customers, the gap report can give them an idea of that. It demonstrates failing within that persons job and this maybe the first time it was highlighted and they are trying to make sure it doesn't happen again.

Well that's kind of the whole point, it is supposed to be the norm All customers are meant to be treated as special, if you've done the customer care course there's a lot there about "magic moments" and giving gold standard service to every single customer etc.

I know we do treat gaps as "special" because we want to make sure their visits are perfect, but the point of the scheme is that if a store is giving gold standard service to every customer then they won't have to worry about gaps because they know their experience will be beyond what is acceptable to pass. (Obviously I know that this isn't 100% realistic )

And yes there was a certain amount of "failing" within that person's job, but then you have to remember that there are many more people responsible when part of a visit goes wrong - the other crew members who might have been distracting the person who served, the crew trainer who trained them might not have been thorough enough when talking about gap, the shift runner might not have had enough staff on front so crew were under a lot of pressure which makes things like gap easy to forget about sometimes... etc etc. And at the end of the day we're all human and we all make occasional mistakes, punishing someone like that for one slip up really isn't very fair.

(Original post by moregano)
Well that's kind of the whole point, it is supposed to be the norm All customers are meant to be treated as special, if you've done the customer care course there's a lot there about "magic moments" and giving gold standard service to every single customer etc.

I know we do treat gaps as "special" because we want to make sure their visits are perfect, but the point of the scheme is that if a store is giving gold standard service to every customer then they won't have to worry about gaps because they know their experience will be beyond what is acceptable to pass. (Obviously I know that this isn't 100% realistic )

And yes there was a certain amount of "failing" within that person's job, but then you have to remember that there are many more people responsible when part of a visit goes wrong - the other crew members who might have been distracting the person who served, the crew trainer who trained them might not have been thorough enough when talking about gap, the shift runner might not have had enough staff on front so crew were under a lot of pressure which makes things like gap easy to forget about sometimes... etc etc. And at the end of the day we're all human and we all make occasional mistakes, punishing someone like that for one slip up really isn't very fair.

The punishment wasn't really that much, not going on a night out and losing your stars? it's better than an official warning or losing your job.

(Original post by fwed1)
The punishment wasn't really that much, not going on a night out and losing your stars? it's better than an official warning or losing your job.

"stars taken off, not being allowed on the crew night out, any extra shifts and a warning a tad harsh..."

Plus, he was pretty much named and shamed by the managers which isn't fair. He's a really quiet guy, and there could've been various factors that stopped him getting full marks. To me it's just silly, but then, I may be biased as don't enjoy the working environment and the way my store is run. I worked here last summer, and didn't have nearly as many problems with pressure and people constantly being on each others case.